"Absolutely not!"
Though he was responding to Inanna's request to venture outside, Eric's scrutinizing gaze was firmly fixed on Aydin, who sat nearby fidgeting like he was on pins and needles.
To resist the demons' fierce offensive, Duke Alama needed to personally oversee the Highland Fortress. All matters, great and small, concerning the rear territories had been entrusted entirely to Eric, his most trusted steward.
Therefore, Farr's request regarding mycelium mat regulation didn't need to trouble the Duke fighting on the front lines—it only required Eric's approval.
Eric was in favor of Farr's request, and the refugees were only one aspect of his consideration.
The intelligence in his hands far exceeded Farr's. This demonic invasion was fierce and relentless, an offensive that couldn't be stopped in the short term. The elven allies they had placed such high hopes in maintained an ambiguous attitude, making food supply a massive hidden danger.
Though they had begun purchasing from the archipelago, it clearly wasn't enough to fill the gap.
Food shortage would likely evolve into a long-term crisis, making it both reasonable and justified to bring this strategic resource under regulation.
As for the resentment of those speculators?
The illustrious Saint Claire family—how could they possibly care about such things!
However...
His consent certainly didn't include letting young miss Inanna personally venture into danger!
"Why not?!" Inanna looked at Eric with dissatisfaction, her cheeks puffed out in anger.
"It's too dangerous!" Eric's voice brooked no argument. "Isn't that underground city still on the verge of collapse? How could the young miss go to such a perilous place?"
"I'm not going inside Mute Wind Town! Just to the outskirts, near the temporary camp!" Inanna twisted the corner of her clothes with her fingers, arguing her case with reason.
"The outskirts?" Eric's mouth tightened further, his gaze sweeping past the window. "That place is now packed with desperate refugees and greedy adventurers—a complete mess of dragons and snakes! The master has taken most of the elite guards. Outside the manor, what could guarantee the young miss's safety?"
"I have it!" Inanna suddenly lifted the knight puffshroom high from her arms, then quickly pointed toward Aydin, who wished he could shrink into the wall cracks. "And Aydin! He'll protect me too!"
Suddenly called upon, Aydin's body stiffened. He felt Eric's blade-like gaze instantly pierce straight through him. He forced out a smile more painful than crying, his scalp tingling with numbness.
"Oh?" Eric stepped forward several paces, his face expressionless as he straightened his sleeves, his voice utterly flat. "If that's the case... then let's give it a try."
"Try... try what?" Inanna blinked her large eyes, not yet understanding.
Eric spoke each word deliberately: "Let's test these two 'guards' you're relying on—see just how capable they really are. As long as they can injure me, I'll acknowledge their ability and no longer obstruct you."
Inanna looked at Eric, then turned to look at Aydin.
Aydin's expression had completely frozen. He desperately wanted to shake his head right now.
"Fine!" Inanna agreed with complete confidence.
Aydin: This is not fine at all!
...
Soon, Aydin and the knight puffshroom stood in the Duke's training ground.
The bluestone-paved floor gleamed with a cold, hard luster under the afternoon sun, while the weapon racks standing all around added several degrees of murderous atmosphere.
Across from them, Eric had removed his meticulous steward's uniform and changed into a set of sharp dark gray training clothes. The pair of dark metal gauntlets on his fists had menacing protrusions at the knuckles, emanating a dangerous aura.
"Eric, once you start, you're not allowed to hurt Puffshroom!" From the viewing platform, Inanna cupped her hands around her mouth, and in her worry, she immediately made an utterly unreasonable demand.
Aydin in the field very much wanted to say: Please show some concern for whether I'll get hurt too...
Inanna waved her hand: "Begin!"
The knight puffshroom struck first. Its round body suddenly lowered, and a spore cannon far exceeding the power of ordinary puffshrooms suddenly blasted forth! The training ground's solid floor was instantly blown open with a large crater!
However, in the swirling dust and smoke, Eric's figure had already vanished from his original position, his speed so fast it left only an afterimage.
He ignored the puffshroom's threat and first pounced toward the mage Aydin!
Aydin's figure flickered, and several phantoms difficult to distinguish from real split from his true body. Simultaneously, each "Aydin" raised his hand without hesitation, multiple sharp wind blades accompanied by the piercing shriek of tearing air, weaving into a net as they slashed toward the rapidly approaching steward.
"Illusion magic?" Eric gave a low snort. His charging momentum paused as his right foot stomped down hard!
A tremendous force penetrated the ground, causing the floor to tremble violently. Countless fragments of stone were shaken loose and shot in all directions!
The stone fragments passed through those illusory images without obstruction—only one Aydin instinctively dodged to the side!
Immediately after, Eric used his guard to block the wind blades while his right fist, wrapped in metal gauntlets, carried the sound of breaking wind as it mercilessly smashed toward Aydin's true form!
Another spore cannon shot over, showing no intention of avoiding Aydin, enveloping both of them in its attack range.
There was no choice—this wasn't Lin Jun controlling it, and the puffshroom's fighting style had always been one that didn't care about friendly fire...
Aydin cursed under his breath. In his haste, he could only forcibly use violent wind to blow himself away in a sorry state, barely avoiding the double attack of fist and spore cannon.
While airborne, he didn't forget to send out several wind blades, trying to seal off Eric's dodging space.
Facing this pincer attack from front and back, Eric turned around on the spot, his fist meeting the spore cannon head-on!
A visible, concentrated fist wind broke free from his hand, viciously smashing into the flying spore cannon!
BOOM—!
The spore cannon was forcibly detonated mid-flight by this domineering fist wind. The violent energy shockwave swept outward, making Eric's clothes flutter like hunting banners, yet he stood steady as a rock.
As Aydin had just landed in a sorry state, Eric's figure appeared before him once again. Those cold metal gauntlets rapidly enlarged in his vision—Aydin simply couldn't dodge in time!
With a "crack," the illusion was shattered, and a fractured crystal fell to the ground, causing Eric's eyebrows to raise slightly.
On the other side, the knight puffshroom actually leaped and jetted directly over, while its body spun at high speed like a top.
Several tough tentacles stretched taut under centrifugal force, transforming into a gleaming, impenetrable blade wheel that ground toward Eric!
**[Blade Storm LV6]**
As a close-combat skill that Lin Jun was quite fond of and practiced whenever he had time, the knight naturally possessed it.
Eric's arms instantly moved in a blur of afterimages. The pair of sturdy metal guards clashed intensely with the sharp tentacle blades, erupting in a series of ear-piercing metallic clangs.
With superb blocking technique and formidable strength, he forcibly withstood this violent spinning attack. The cost was several deep slashes left on his guards, while three of the puffshroom's tentacle blades were directly shattered by his fist force!
"Eric! You promised not to hurt the knight!" Inanna called out from the viewing platform with distress.
Eric sighed helplessly in his heart. Just as he was about to exert force to completely restrain this fearless puffshroom, his right hand suddenly swatted, crushing a small flying insect illusion that had been perched on his shoulder—it had just tried to bite Eric.
At the same time, the opposing puffshroom began releasing hallucinogenic spores while using **[Infrasonic Attack]**.
The sound of a bottle breaking came from Eric's waist.
Simultaneously, his body swayed slightly, and a trace of dark red blood uncontrollably seeped from the corner of his mouth. Though his robust physique meant the damage he received was extremely minor, blood had ultimately been drawn!
The attacks ceased.
Eric stood in place, not pursuing further.
He looked somewhat strangely at this puffshroom that the young miss carried in her arms every day, then turned his head toward a corner of the training ground. The real Aydin was slowly emerging from thin air, looking somewhat embarrassed with cold sweat still beading his forehead.
Eric raised his hand to wipe away the trace of blood from his mouth, then touched the shattered bottle at his waist. His poker face showed no joy or anger: "You do have some skill."
"We won! I can go!" Inanna immediately cheered from the viewing platform.
Eric fell silent for a moment, quickly assessing: an illusion mage as slippery as a loach, skilled at creating chaos and providing cover, plus a puffshroom unafraid of injury with surprising attack power and the ability to launch bizarre attacks—they could indeed provide the young miss with a considerable degree of protection.
Even so, he remained completely vigilant.
In the end, Inanna's expedition party included not only Aydin and the knight puffshroom, but also four golden-ranked guards with steady auras and sharp eyes, plus a full set of life-saving equipment.
Before departure, Eric's eyes locked firmly on Aydin: "I must ask Sir Aydin and Guild Leader Farr to ensure the young miss's complete safety."
The subtext couldn't be clearer: If anything goes wrong, you won't have a good ending!
---
On the road, Dylan sat wearily on horseback, still mounted on that same chestnut horse. This old companion had amazing stamina—when it came to traveling, it was no less capable than those fine horses, so Dylan hadn't bothered to replace it along the way.
After continuous travel, Dylan had lost a significant amount of weight. His cheeks were sunken, dark shadows hung beneath his eye sockets, and only the ever-decreasing distance to Mute Wind Town managed to kindle a trace of vitality in his eyes.
Just as he forced himself to stay alert and dispel the daze brought on by the long journey, his peripheral vision suddenly caught something unusual—mycelium!
In the roadside forest, there were actually traces of mycelium mats. They spread through the woods and even climbed onto the road surface!
However, Dylan wasn't certain whether these belonged to the boss.
"Boss?" Dylan tried calling through the mycelium network.
Before he could get a reply, three figures wielding sharp blades suddenly burst from the bushes ahead, blocking his path completely. Dylan reined in his horse sharply, and the chestnut horse stamped its hooves uneasily.
He had just thought to turn around when shadows moved behind him. Two more bandits emerged from the rear with cruel grins, completely sealing off the narrow forest path.
Almost simultaneously, urgent hoofbeats came from nearby. Two accomplices riding inferior horses and brandishing weapons were rapidly flanking from the side!
Seven against one!
How many times had he been robbed along this journey?
The security outside really was getting worse and worse. What should he do this time—fight or flee?
The lead bandit was a tall, fat man carrying a rust-stained spiked mace. His voice was hoarse and grating: "Old man, be smart! Leave the horse, throw over your money pouch! We'll spare your life!"
His accomplices brandished their long knives, eyeing Dylan's valuable gear with ill intent.
Dylan looked at them, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
Seven against one definitely meant running, but the opponents had not only blocked front and back—they even had two on horseback.
Though they were inferior horses, his own mount had experienced the rigors of travel and might not be able to outrun them.
It was all because he'd been distracted by seeing the mycelium mats earlier. Usually, he would detect trouble early and avoid it from a distance.
The bandits exchanged glances and grew impatient, advancing with their weapons.
Just as Dylan prepared to use his ice spike ring to fight his way out, he noticed many bulges appearing on the nearby mycelium mat...
Pop... pop pop... pop pop pop...
A series of sounds rang out from the mycelium mat. When the bandits turned around, they saw a scene that made their scalps crawl: countless round magical creatures—puffshrooms—emerged from the forest and swiftly rolled toward them!
Like a tide washing over the road surface, over a hundred puffshrooms quickly surrounded everyone.
One mounted bandit reacted fastest. The sight before him, beyond all comprehension, made him jerk the reins to turn and flee!
However, turning a horse around takes time, and at this distance, it was but an instant for the puffshrooms!
Several puffshrooms quickly rolled to his horse's side, their round bodies ramming straight into it!
BANG!
A violent explosion wrapped in dirt and flesh fragments shot skyward. The inferior horse didn't even have time to cry out before being blown to death, while the bandit on its back, covered in blood and missing a leg, screamed in agony.
"Save me! Save me!" He dragged his mangled body, letting out heart-rending wails as he desperately reached toward his accomplices.
But the remaining six were already tightly surrounded by puffshrooms. Facing the circles of puffshrooms around them and hearing their companion's shrill screams, they felt a chill run from the soles of their feet straight to their skulls. Forget saving anyone—they didn't dare move a single step!
They could only watch helplessly as a second wave of puffshrooms rolled toward their companion amid his pleas for mercy.
Several more muffled explosions rang out, dirt flying everywhere.
The wailing stopped abruptly.
The ferocity had completely vanished from the bandits' faces, leaving only expressions of terror!
The fat leader gripped his heavy spiked mace with white knuckles, his arm muscles bulging, yet he couldn't muster even a trace of courage to swing at the nearby puffshrooms. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his greasy cheeks.
"Un-underground city puffshrooms!"
"What's happening?! What the hell is going on?!"
The bandits completely panicked, cursing in bewilderment, utterly unable to comprehend this nightmarish scene before them.
They had been entrenched in this area for over ten days—how had they encountered such a bizarre situation today?
Only Dylan, who knew the truth, finally felt the great weight in his heart settle. Both his own safety and the boss's safety had been answered simultaneously. An indescribable warmth and sense of security welled up within him.
He simply stroked the neck of his chestnut horse gently, soothing this old companion who was equally agitated by the bloody explosion.
Just as the bandits were wracking their brains for an escape, the puffshroom group stirred, and a wrinkled, elongated puffshroom was "pushed" forward by its companions.
It oriented its body toward these fellows who dared target the puffshrooms' subordinate's master, writhing.
Immediately after, a bone-chilling, horrifying voice like countless voices layered and compressed together emerged from within: "Let out pig-like squeals, then die!"
The puffshroom group instantly erupted. Sharp blade whips tore through the air while acid sprayed like a torrential downpour!
"Dylan! You're actually still alive!"
In his mind, the boss greeted him with joy, while in reality, shrieks so shrill they no longer sounded human instantly drowned out the forest's insect chirping. The stench of blood and acid mingled and spread, making Dylan, who had just been moved to tears, immediately vomit on the spot.
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